The Tale of the VIRTUPET CHAT BOARD
by The Magnan
January 6th
2004, The Fall of the VPC is published by SpiderGrundo
September
26th 2004, Will publishes the article 'Will's Wacky World: The Virtupets Chat Board-
The Good, The Bad and the Goofy'
I will firstly introduce myself I am Magna (Magnafire19)
also a Veteran of the Virtupet Chat Board. But I wasn't part of the Spam Wars
or the VPC in 2003 and 2004 but I've heard a lot about it, in regards to likes
of Francis. I joined Neopets Mid-2007 in June.
I've been a VPCer for six and half years, and when I decided I was going
to make this article and the wikia; THE VIRTUPETS LEGACY. I was shown three web
pages by fellow VPCer Wiz (Who was around way before myself). I can safely say
the fall of the VPC did not occur in 2003, but it can easily been understood as
to why the VPCers reacted as they did back then.
It was an invasion of Spammers or 'M00fs' as they opted to
call them due to the similarity that N00b had with Newb. They have a similar
sound but different meaning entirely.
The VPC board was soon overwhelmed with newcomers and unfortunately
spammers. The VPC community at that time was resistant to this change, which
led to them fighting back. It also caused quite a rift amongst them and that
led many accounts being frozen. The key thing to remember about the VPC is that
it has always been a board of war and as such it thrives on it; especially when
you factor in the different guilds and allegiances. The opening to the general
public was enough to send shockwaves through the community. Many believed the
VPC was now dead. However, despite everything, the Reformation Movement began
and the VPCers adapted to the changes. The years 2003/2004 were a truly
remarkable year for the chat board. But it did not spell the end of the VPC as
some had boldly predicted. A decade on and we still chat there, albeit the
board is a pale shadow of itself, and only a few of the Vets from that far back
remain currently active. But whilst many blogs and pages detail the events of
2004 on the VPC, the years that followed have not been spoken of in any form. I
have not found much detail regarding 2005/2006*or the early months of
2007. However, this tale is of the slow
death of the Virtupet Chat Board, once a place where Minions, Antis, Neutrals,
Good, and Evil could wage their wars. We were once a massive community. And now
its glory only exists in memory.
When I joined the VPC, it was like stepping into a crowded
room, you don’t quite know what to expect. At the time I didn't know about the VPCs rich
history, nor did I truly realise what I was in for. When I first posted on the
VPC in opposition to Doctor Sloth; those types of VPCers are known as
Anti-Sloths. I soon came under fire and
a war of words began, being waged by me and the other Antis against those that
were members of the Confederacy of the Separation of Neopia (CSN) and their
allies the Empire of Eternal Darkness. So with the help of fellow VPCer
_phear_35 I founded the Resq Rangers HQ on the 7th August and inevitably over
the next few months we clashed. Then I met the Veterans of the time. By Vets I
mean the likes of James and his Neopian Fiery Guardians. They steamrolled the
CSN, and it never recovered. What followed (much to my own surprise) was an offer
to join the NFG, now most reg-VPCers who knew the significance of such an offer
would have leaped at the chance to part of such a historic guild. But I
politely refused, and in many ways that choice would define the future of my
guild.
The Return of Doctor Sloth Plot came in 2008 and once again
Minions and Antis clashed. Meanwhile my guild along with our allies battled Alz
(aaalllzzz) of the Darkness Minions. The Empire of Eternal Darkness would
surrender, as the Darkness Minions lost momentum and with my spy account
Shadowlord positioned inside the Liz. That would have only left the Fight Club.
But Alz returned with a greater force, and so the Dark Corporation rose out of
the Darkness Minions. And whilst another spy of our own Wiz attempted to
sabotage the guild, it was to no avail and we were defeated. But in the
meantime I had cemented myself on the VPC .
I witnessed the many sides of Wiz; I honestly can't decide
if he was ever truly Minion or Anti, he was Anti-Minion if anything. He was a dangerous mixture of both who knew
the VPC like the back of his hand, and the only enemy I truly feared, when we
were enemies. Still he did the most damage to my guild despite me placing my
trust in him. He wrecked the layout and deleted many members but thankfully
their loyalty was incredible and they re-joined. The Resq Rangers later named
the Armed Anti-Sloth Union would bounce back. Flame and Goody would be my loyal
second and third in command as Phear and Sorakey became gradually inactive.
Soon we had Veterans of the old days making appearances from time to time. It
was a busy time, the VPC never slept, at least until now.
At one point in time the VPC was home to the NFG, Dark Corp,
USL, AASU, MOE, The Order and many others. We saw the Roman emperor imitators arrive
in form of a returning Caesar and later Nero. Wiz would continue to be a
dedicated rival and things were entertaining. It felt like it would never end
but of course it did.
Lolli and at the time queen Crystal would leave Neo but not
before leaving their mark. They deleted the USL, deleted members out of the
NFG, the AASU and the Dark Corp. They purged the VPC and it never truly
recovered. Why they did that I will never truly know.
In 2009, the ACers and Plotters came to the VPC following
the deletion of their board. They sadly would met a wall of spam from some
VPCers who attempted to repel them, as far as I know none of my members
participated in this attack, and for those who did spam and mock the new
arrivals, you disgraced our name. But in all fairness did the Plotters and
ACers really except to find an empty board? It was also around this time that I
stepped down as leader and Goodship took the reins. She did an excellent job of
running the place, and managed to maintain peace or at least encourage it. Wiz
would later leave the VPC taking his guild with him following disagreements
between both sides that had been building over a series of months. By this time
guilds like the NFG would start to decline, as did the Dark Corp. The Armed
Anti-Sloth Union would stand alone and in 2012 we would celebrate our fifth
birthday before the AASU itself died of inactivity despite previous efforts to
expand on the VPC and other chat-boards.
And so here I write in 2014, above is a brief summary of
several years, if you really want a nostalgia trip I am making a wiki dedicated
to the Legacy of the VPC. The VPC has fallen, and it has honestly seen better
days. Yet even so a handful of us remain dedicated to preserving our name
remain. The VPC is more than a community; it is a family. The board these days
is slow but from time to time we chat. So if you are an old VPCer then you are
more than welcome to stop by and stay awhile. Just don't mind the Plotters that
have to share our board because they've got nowhere else to go.
You look at the VPC and what it was, and you might think it
never changed. In 2003/4 some tried to establish the idea of a kingdom...
little did they know that six years on that kingdom would actually surface. We
were a tight knit community, but we were always accepting of new-comers and our
views of off topic boards became more relaxed
over time.
What really fascinates me is that the VPC still exists. The
board remains to this day. We never experienced what the EMSers had to go
through, and I am glad we didn't. If you really wish to learn about the past,
then there pages on the web that detail these event, they are live journals by Trauwyn,
Leelana, and many others that speak of the Spam War that plagued the Virtupet
board in 2003. Old Vpcers also tried to
recreate the board on a separate site. Further, and more successfully was the
formation of a RP site, called the RP Site, and Egon is one of its moderators.
Although, I currently don't know if it's still active, when I looked, it
appeared so.
The important thing to remember is, the history of board is
out there. You just need to know where to look.
~The Magnan.
*Note if you were a user around 05/6, you input is welcome,
and I will add it to this blog. I aim to hopefully compile as much history as
possible. Because the VPC in many ways, is one of a kind.
Links of Interest
By Spidergrundo ( Jan 2, 2004) it depicts the Spam War and
the ‘death’ of the VPC. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1668920/1/The-Fall-of-the-VPC
By Will (September 26, 2004)
http://willswackyworld.blogspot.co.uk/2004/09/virtupets-chat-good-bad-and-goofy.html
Here's my
own personal tribute -
In the
darkest of times,
The light
shines through,
A memory
from a time long past,
the VPC
didn't fall .
It was
reborn in fire,
The Spam
Wars came,
And many
were frozen.
But things
changed,
The reformation
began,
The plot
would come,
And the VPC
would buzz.
Wars were
waged,
Guilds lost
forever,
Only the
strongest remained,For a time we stood united.
A Union,
But a board
born of war,
Can never
escape it,
And so the
Union fell,
Our
guilds crippled.
The Plotters
came,
And met a
wall,
A wall
breached.
I ask you
remember,
the past,
but also
think to a bright future,
a time when
the Virtupet is reborn again,
when the
silence shatters,
and we
proclaim,
WE ARE THE
VPCERS,
AND WE HAVE
RETURNED!
